"But the dream, the echo, slips from him as quickly as he had found it and as consciousness comes to him (a slap and not the gentle waves of oceanic tides), it dissolves entirely. His muscles relax as the cold claims him again, as the numbness sets in, and when his grey eyes open, there’s nothing but the faint after burn of a dream often trod and never remembered." --Brigade, written by Laura
Avelina watches with no shortage of delight as the butterflies and fireflies dance and flit around each other, mingling and casting shadows with the fluttering of their wings. There’s a soft thrum of concern for the pair of butterflies that the other feline sends tumbling with a breath - though the panther girl gives herself a quick reminder she has done much the same with the fireflies (and had been doing that very thing just before her new friend had arrived) and they were never worse for wear.
At the mention of a companion, her soft green eyes follow Chel’s gaze to the branches - mildly disappointed that she cannot spot Atzi. She’s never met a companion before! Her twin had been a near-constant presence in her life when she was young, but that has changed - and she wonders what it would be like to have someone other than her fireflies to keep her company.
This mild disappointment is quickly forgotten when Chel asks about shifting - Avelina’s smile dancing at the chance to talk about something she actually knows, her black tail flicking with pleasure behind her. “Something useful and one of my favourites. I’m not stuck to just felines though - I’ve become very fond of birds lately too. Sparrows and swans mostly. And I tried a bat with my sister!” Her enthusiasm checks itself and her smile turns a little embarrassed. Will Chel find this selection of animals boring? None of them, aside from the panther she currently is, are very fearsome or awe-inspiring.
She's not accustomed to hearing herself speak so much - and so easily - and she finds that she's not sure what to do now that she has.
So she redirects the conversation back to Chel - happily focusing on a genuine curiosity rather than the embarrassment that had been beginning to show. “What about you? Can you take other shapes?”
